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Pokémon Sun & Moon Trailer

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Up until this point, the trailers for Pokémon Sun & Moon haven’t really piqued my interest. The Hawaii-influenced setting, the starters, the fact that they’ve made them easier – all of these have contributed to me losing interest, if anything. The new trailer that’s been released, however, changed that.

The trailer presents a plethora of new features, Pokémon and Pokémon forms that haven’t been previously shown off. Right off the bat, we can see that the game’s setting is changing the Pokémon that we’ve come to know for years. Alola turns Vulpix, Ninetales, Sandshrew and Sandslash into Alolan Vulpix, Alolan Ninetales, Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Sandslash respectively, as they lose their original properties and adopt those of ice-types. Other Pokemon, on the other hand, change in different ways. For example, Exeggutor’s neck grows as a result of being on Alola, and it also makes him a dragon? I don’t know. It makes no sense to me, but whatever, it’s Pokémon.

Speaking of which, we got a look at a few more of this Generation’s new Pokémon. Yungoos and Gumshoos were revealed and these give off the vibe that they’re very much going to be some of the first Pokémon that you encounter in the wild (e.g. Rattata and Pidgey). Other Pokémon that were shown off included Oricorio, a bird whose style changes depending on the island in which it resides; Minior, a meteor with psychic and rock-type properties; Mudbray, a horse Pokémon; Fomantis and Lurantis, two grass-type Pokémon. That’s about as deep as the trailer goes in terms of information on these new Pokémon. It’s interesting, as there hasn’t been much fan fare about them, but then again they’re no Alolan Exeggutor.

Now, new Pokémon and Pokémon forms? That’s all fine and dandy, sure. The real story here, though, is that with Pokémon Sun and Moon, the fundamental game and formula changes in some significant ways. Instead of making your way from town to town to go to the eight gyms and battle the gym leaders, you’re traversing four islands and completing quests. These quests, referred to as “island trials” vary from RPG collect-a-thons to trainer battles to battling and capturing rare and powerful Pokémon. Once completed, you’re allowed to battle the Island Kahunas, which are essentially gym leaders.

While this is all new and exciting, it doesn’t really tell the whole story of Pokémon Sun and Moon in so far as an endgame. In the earlier games, you battled eight gym leaders and after that, you made your way to the Pokémon League, the Elite Four and eventually, the Champion. In Sun and Moon, once you’ve defeated the Island Kahunas, then what? Does the game just end? Is everyone friends? Does the kid, having defeated all of the island kahunas and finding everyone else to be inferior, blow his brains out? We don’t know and I, quite frankly, am really interested to find out.

Also, there are Z-Moves, which look to be something akin to super moves in a fighting game. It’s an interesting little addition, but I’m curious to see what the response from the competitive scene is.

Pokémon Sun and Moon are set to release November 18th, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.